Bernard A. Friedman
Appointed by President Ronald Reagan in 1988 and confirmed by voice vote, Bernard A. Friedman is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. He earned a law degree from Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State University College of Law) in 1968. Rulings & record ↓ Sources ↓
- Born
- 1943 · age 83
- Appointed by
- Ronald Reagan, 1988
- Confirmed
- by voice vote
- Education
- Detroit College of Law (now Michigan State College of Law) 1968
- Succeeded
- Robert Edward DeMascio
- Succeeded by
- Gershwin Allen Drain
Federal judicial service
| Year | Court | Appointed by | Vote |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988 | Eastern District of Michigan succeeded Robert Edward DeMascio | Reagan (R) | Voice vote |
Party letters show the appointing president’s party, not the judge’s own. A voice vote means the chamber approved aloud. No senator-by-senator tally is recorded.
Confirmation vote
Voice vote
The Senate approved this confirmation aloud, with no senator-by-senator tally recorded. Recorded roll-call votes begin in 1989.
Education
Judicial Record
Caseload & case types
In our data, Friedman was assigned 8,753 district-court cases (1978–2025). Median time from filing to termination: 202 days across 8,707 closed cases.
Case assignment is from CourtListener’s PACER-derived docket records: a partial sample, not a complete caseload, reflecting the judge last assigned each case. How we count.
On appeal
Of 219 of Friedman’s decisions reviewed on the merits by the U.S. courts of appeals in our data, 168 were affirmed, 36 reversed or vacated, and 15 affirmed in part and reversed in part. This is a historical count of appellate outcomes for cases we could match, not a judgment of the judge, and not a complete record. How we count.
In our data, Friedman authored 49 published opinions for the court (1989–2010). Most cited: Dell v. Straub (147 citations).
A selective record from published opinions in the CourtListener corpus, not every ruling; most unpublished district orders are not included. Counts and rankings are objective and recomputable: how we count. We describe the record, not the judge.
Recent & notable rulings
| Year | Case | Citation | Cited |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | Dell v. Straub | 194 F. Supp. 2d 629 | 147 |
| 2002 | Thirkield v. Pitcher | 199 F. Supp. 2d 637 | 55 |
| 2005 | Edwards v. Barnhart | 383 F. Supp. 2d 920 | 24 |
| 1990 | Knickerbocker Ex Rel. Estate of Knickerbocker v. Chrysler Corp. | 728 F. Supp. 460 | 24 |
| 2002 | Cathron v. Jones | 190 F. Supp. 2d 990 | 20 |
| 1996 | Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Chrysler Corp. | 917 F. Supp. 1164 | 13 |
| 2009 | Holmes v. National City Bank (In Re Holmes) | 414 B.R. 115 | 12 |
| 2001 | Robertson v. Abramajtys | 144 F. Supp. 2d 829 | 10 |
| 2001 | Grutter v. Bollinger | 137 F. Supp. 2d 821 | 10 |
| 1989 | Schreiber Manufacturing Co. v. Saft America, Inc. | 704 F. Supp. 759 | 10 |
| 1990 | Shadley v. Miller | 733 F. Supp. 54 | 9 |
| 1989 | Clonlara, Inc. v. Runkel | 722 F. Supp. 1442 | 9 |
| 1999 | Johnson v. Economic Development Corp. | 64 F. Supp. 2d 657 | 8 |
| 1990 | Scholnick v. Schecter | 752 F. Supp. 1317 | 8 |
| 1989 | Leoni v. Rogers | 719 F. Supp. 555 | 8 |
Showing the 15 most-cited of 49 authored opinions in our data. “Cited” is inbound citations across the CourtListener corpus. Case links open the ruling’s full text (CourtListener) or its page here; read the methodology and verify against the primary source.
Questions & answers
- Who appointed Bernard A. Friedman?
- President Ronald Reagan appointed Bernard A. Friedman to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan in 1988.
- Was Bernard A. Friedman appointed by a Democrat or a Republican?
- Bernard A. Friedman was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, a Republican. JudicialFinder records the appointing president's party, not a judge's own politics.
- What was Bernard A. Friedman's confirmation vote?
- Bernard A. Friedman was confirmed by voice vote on April 19, 1988. No senator-by-senator tally was recorded.
- Which court is Bernard A. Friedman on?
- Bernard A. Friedman is a Judge on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan.
Sources
Each fact on this page traces to a primary public record.
- FJC Biographical Directory
- CourtListener bulk data (Free Law Project): authored opinions & citation counts
How we source & reconcile data → Data & Sources
See something wrong? Report an error. Fixes are logged in the corrections log.
38 years on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Data as of 2026-08-10. Informational only; verify against the primary source before relying. Not a consumer report (FCRA).